FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 11, 2023
Independent, Non-Partisan Report to the President Confirms Whistleblower Reports of Misconduct by Trump Political Appointees at Voice of America
Office of Special Counsel Determines Independent Investigation Largely Substantiates “Deeply Troubling Conduct” Reported by Government Accountability Project Whistleblower Clients
WASHINGTON— On May 10, 2023, Special Counsel Henry J. Kerner, the government watchdog who heads the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC), notified President Biden that he had determined—after an 18 month independent investigation—that whistleblower reports of abuses by political operatives installed at the Voice of America, its sibling networks and its oversight agency, the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), were true.
By law, these networks must report the news independently without government interference. Because of that, a worldwide audience in the hundreds of millions listen, watch, and read what they have to say. During his last six months in office, President Trump tried to change that. He installed political operatives set on turning the networks into tools to broadcast his propaganda.
Public servants committed to press freedom and democracy stepped forward as whistleblowers to report abuses. OSC directed USAGM to investigate. The agency hired an outside team of investigators. Their 145-page report took 18 months to complete. Its catalog of confirmed finds are:
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